Upset after University of Chichester cuts African history course

The Masters by Research course (MRes) ‘History of Africa and African Diaspora’ will be terminated and the internationally acclaimed academic Professor Hakim Adi made redundant.

The University has said that it recognises the important subject matter but after investing almost £700,000 into the program, it has only received £150,000 in tuition fees since the course was launched in 2017.

General secretary of the University and College Union Jo Grady described it as ‘nothing less than an attack on black academia’ in a scathing statement issued this week.

She added: “It is no surprise that only one per cent of UK professors are black when a university like Chichester is willing to sack the UK's first African-British professor of history and shut down a course created to train black academics.

"Chichester's management urgently needs to show it is committed to widening access into higher education and reverse this awful decision.”

A petition opposing the decision was launched on July 13 and has already garnered more than 7,500 signatures.

The petition was set up by History Matters, an organisation of black historians and teachers concerned about low numbers of students and teachers of African and Caribbean heritage.

You can find the petition here: Stop University of Chichester’s axing of the MRes History of Africa & the African Diaspora

In a statement this afternoon, a spokesperson for the University said: “Like all universities, the University of Chichester routinely reviews its portfolio of degree programmes to ensure that their delivery is financially sustainable while continuing to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of its students.

"This review process is conducted by the Curriculum Planning Committee in conjunction with academic departments over a period of several months and uses multiple data sources, such as number of enrolments, student applications and student outcomes. This process is always carefully considered and operates within internal and external policies and requirements.

"Courses that fail to consistently recruit sufficient students are simply not viable for the University to continue to offer, as the cost of delivery would far outweigh any income from fees received. Popularity of particular programmes rises and falls over time and this is only to be expected.

“This year, the University has had to make the difficult decision to suspend or close a number of postgraduate courses, including the suspension of the MRes in The History of Africa and the African Diaspora, while ensuring the students remaining on them can complete their programmes of study.”

They added: “While it is understandable that the suspension of the MRes programme may be seen as a cause for concern by some observers, it is worth noting that other universities have either introduced or continue to operate similar programmes, such as those offered at SOAS, Birmingham, Birkbeck and

Birmingham City University.

“The University will, as always, continue to work with both our staff and students affected by these decisions to ensure we maintain the high standards of education that we are known for.”